


Moonrise

by hypocorism



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Female Remus, Fluff, Humor, Nonbinary Character, Other, Romance, Texting, Werewolves, except werewolves are a thing, nonbinary Sirius
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 10:44:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12505624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hypocorism/pseuds/hypocorism
Summary: R/S Games 2017 - Day 22 - Team SiriusThere's something very bad in Sirius' back yard. Possibly. Sirius is going to charge out there unprepared anyway!





	Moonrise

**Author's Note:**

> **Team:** Sirius  
>  **Title:** Moonrise  
>  **Rating:** G  
>  **Warnings:** none  
>  **Genres:** Fluff/Romance, Humor  
>  **Word Count:** 2500  
>  **Summary:** There's something very bad in Sirius' back yard. Possibly. Sirius is going to charge out there unprepared anyway!  
>  **Notes:** thank you so so much to everyone on team sirius!! you are all wonderful and kind and supportive and I appreciate all of you!! can't wait to read everyone's stuff!  
>  **Prompt:** #52 - song: ["Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BmEGm-mraE) (link to YouTube video)

It's absolutely pouring rain and Sirius is about 90% certain they're about to be murdered.

"This is all Prongs' fault," they mutter, trying to peer through a tiny opening in the curtain of the kitchen window. Padfoot pushes her nose against Sirius' palm and whines. Sirius pets her absentmindedly, still trying to stare through the rain and discern whatever the fuck the thing in their backyard is through the intermittent flashes of lightning.

There's a particularly loud boom of thunder, and both Sirius and Padfoot jump. Sirius just has time to press a hand to their chest and try and slow their heartbeat with a few deep breaths before the kitchen light flickers ominously and then goes out.

Padfoot whines again, and starts attempting to climb into Sirius' lap. As Sirius is standing and Padfoot is approximately the size of a small horse, it does not go well.

An eerie noise comes from whatever is in the backyard, and Sirius pulls out their phone.

**hope ur enjoying your romantic weekend away, roomie. i am fairly certain someone has just cut the power and im about to be murdered so really REALLY soak up that quality couple time!!!**

Sirius hovers in front of the door, hesitating. They don't want to go outside without their phone. If someone is actually out there, calling for help would probably be the smartest option. Tomorrow is Padfoot’s birthday, and there will be no one to give her her cake if Sirius gets murdered.

Then again, it's raining really hard and this is a new phone. Sirius settles for a torch/possible bludgeon and Padfoot.

They fling open the back door, shining the torch out into the yard and swinging it around wildly. Padfoot, far from charging defensively out ahead of Sirius and protecting her beloved human, flees deeper into the house with a yelp.

"Coward!" Sirius yells after her.

At least whatever is in the yard doesn't appear to be moving in for a murderous attack. It's huddled in a lump and making an eerie moaning sound.

Sirius slowly steps down off the porch, bare feet squishing into the soaked grass of the lawn. With the moon full and bright in the sky above, the torch isn’t really necessary, but the heft is comforting in their hand.

"Hello?" they call. The thing whimpers again, but doesn't move.

As Sirius gets closer, they see it isn't a person (murderous or otherwise) after all. It's an absolutely enormous... dog? Wolf? Are there wolves in this part of the country? Sirius leans down to look more closely and one amber eye snaps open, focusing on them immediately.

The wolf staggers to its feet, and Sirius backs up a bit, wary. It doesn't seem interested in attacking them, though. In fact, it looks like it's trying to limp over to the fence. Now that it's moving, Sirius can see a bleeding gash in its back leg.

James' horrified face flashes briefly through Sirius' mind as they cut the wolf off and start herding it back toward the house.

"Sirius, no," their inner James says.

"Sirius, yes," Sirius mutters.

The wolf, or maybe it is a dog after all, because it seems to be willing enough to let Sirius drag it inside, stumbles into the kitchen and promptly starts shaking its fur out.

Sirius squawks and skids over to the airing cupboard, grabbing a towel and using it to sop up most of the water. Padfoot seems to have well and truly vacated the premises, and the lights are still out. Sirius sighs and goes to get their travel bag. Being a vet comes in handy when you randomly take in injured animals.

 _Then again,_ Sirius ponders, _maybe this tendency for taking in injured animals is why I became a vet._ Who can tell why Sirius does anything.

As expected, Padfoot has made an attempt to get under the bed. She's too large to fit properly, so really just her head and shoulders are hidden. Her tail thumps against the bedroom carpet as Sirius comes into the bedroom.

"You're such a coward," Sirius says fondly, grabbing their bag and heading back to the kitchen. It's probably not a good idea to attempt stitches without proper lights, but they do manage to inject a painkiller and mild sedative without the wolf panicking or trying to run. They clean the cut, but it's fairly deep and does probably need stitches. For now, they cover it with a clean bandage, keeping pressure until the sluggish trickle of blood slows to a stop.

Sirius hops up, washing their hands and then going back to the bedroom to change into clean, dry clothes. Padfoot jerks out from under the bed suddenly, barking and growling at the door. Sirius turns around to see the wolf leaning uncertainly against the door frame, wavering and looking like it’s about to collapse.

"Padfoot, hush," Sirius says loudly, going over to help the wolf limp into the room. Much to Padfoot's chagrin, the wolf collapses into her bed. She looks at Sirius with hurt incredulity. Sirius rolls their eyes. "Oh, stop it. You always sleep in my bed, anyway, you silly dog." Padfoot wags her tail.

Sirius is much too wired from all the excitement with the wolf to sleep, so they dig up a DVD of Shrek and watch it while their laptop still has battery power.

Fortunately, the lights come back on by the time the laptop’s low battery icon is starting to become annoyingly insistent. Sirius stitches up the wolf's cut with absorbable stitches, gives it another sedative, and sets an alarm for early the next morning. Or, well, they pick up their phone and then see a series of increasingly alarmed texts and missed calls from James.

_WHAT THE FUCK_

_wait that was a joke right_

_????_

_sirius this isnt funny answer me!!!_

There's also one from Lily.

black if u rnt dead im gonna kill u. james wont stop pacing and is trying 2 book us on a return flight tmr

Sirius winces and calls James.

"Sirius????" James yells down the phone, approximately a second into the ring. "Are you alive?"

"No, this is a kidnapper calling with ransom demands," Sirius deadpans. They know they're sort of in the wrong here, probably shouldn't have sent out an alarm text and then left their phone on silent, but the drive to be sarcastic is irresistible.

"Fuck," James heaves a sigh of relief. "You really scared me. Where the fuck were you?"

"Get off the phone!" Sirius hears Lily yell in the background. Sirius rolls their eyes.

"Er, animal emergency, thing."

"Did you go in to the clinic?" James asks, confusedly. "I thought you weren't working today."

"No. Uh, big dog. In the backyard." The word 'wolf' is probably going to cause unnecessary panic, Sirius reasons. James' sigh hisses and crackles down the phone line.

"So you're okay?"

"I'm fine," Sirius grumbles. "No thanks to you for abandoning me." James starts saying something about romance and Lily but Sirius ignores him. "Shut up. Go spend time with your girlfriend."

"Are you sure you're okay?" James asks again. There's the brief sound of scuffling.

"I'm hanging up now," Lily says. Sirius grins.

"I miss you too, Lils."

"Love you," Lily says. James indignantly yells his own love from a distance. It sounds like Lily is possibly sitting on him. "Don't die before we can get back."

"I'll try," Sirius says drily.

They double check the alarm on their phone, and then shove Padfoot over slightly so they can lie down on the bed. She glares balefully at Sirius, even though she's still got roughly 2/3rds of the bed. Sirius yawns and scratches behind her ears. She closes her eyes and pushes her head up against Sirius' chest. Sirius falls asleep a few minutes later.

-

The alarm blasts the shreds of remaining sleep out of Sirius' brain as they fumble madly for the snooze button. Simultaneously, a crashing noise comes from Sirius' closet. Padfoot starts barking, and Sirius groans and presses the heels of their hands into their eyes.

"What the fuck," they grumble.

"Sorry," a soft voice says. Sirius screams, jolting back against the headboard and accidentally shoving Padfoot half out of the bed.

There's a person standing in the door of Sirius' closet.

"Is that my jumper?" Sirius asks vaguely.

"Er," the stranger looks down at her own body as if she isn't quite sure what she's wearing. "Yes?"

"Right," Sirius says faintly. Padfoot has stopped barking, but she is peering over Sirius' shoulder rather suspiciously. "Okay, so, who the fuck breaks into someone's house to steal their clothes?"

"I wasn't..." the woman shoves a hand through her long tangle of brown hair. "I didn't..." she pushes her thighs together and huddles against the door frame, and the motion draws Sirius' eyes down toward her legs.

There's a large cut on one of them, neatly stitched up.

"What. The fuck," Sirius says, staring at the stitches.

"Um, I'll just," the woman starts walking, then stumbles and nearly collapses against the wall. Sirius sighs and pushes to their feet.

"Stop moving around," they say, "there's still a lot of sedative in your system, and the dose I gave you was for a much larger animal."

"I'm fine," the woman grumbles, but she lets Sirius usher her over to the sofa and sit her down on it. Padfoot has seemingly decided that this extra human is here for her, and comes over to start demanding pets.

"Pads, stop," Sirius says in exasperation, but the woman smiles and starts scratching behind her ears. Padfoot closes her eyes, tongue lolling out. "Utterly shameless," Sirius grumbles.

"She's sweet. Animals don't usually like me," the woman says.

"Is that a function of the werewolf thing, then?" Sirius asks. The woman winces and drops her hands to her side. Padfoot shoots Sirius a look of utter betrayal.

"You're handling this relatively well," the woman says. "The last person I told laughed and then ran away screaming."

"Yeah, well," Sirius flops onto the couch next to her. "I've already seen your wolf form and it isn't that scary."

The woman grimaces, starts half-heartedly trying to stand.

"I should go."

"What's your name?" Sirius asks.

"Uh," the woman says, eyes darting nervously between Sirius and Padfoot.

"I'm not going to like," Sirius waves a hand, "report you to my local vampire coven, or anything. Just, makes conversation easier."

"There's no such thing as vampires," the woman says, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Even better," Sirius says cheerfully. "So, name? I'm Sirius. This shameless beggar is Padfoot. No," Sirius sighs exasperatedly. "Padfoot, no. That was not an invitation to get on the couch."

"I'm Remus," the woman, Remus, says. Sirius snorts.

"Wait, really?"

"Seriously," Remus deadpans. Sirius grins at her.

"I like you," they say. Remus ducks behind her hair but Sirius sees the corner of a returned grin. "So," Sirius says briskly, "what do werewolves eat for breakfast?"

Remus looks at them and smiles tentatively, and Sirius fights down the urge to pat her on the head. For a werewolf, she's quite tiny.

"I'm not that picky," Remus says, as Sirius tugs her into the kitchen. "What do you usually eat?"

"Well," Sirius says, drawing the word out. "Usually Prongs, er, my roommate James, cooks."

"So, cereal?"

"Cereal it is!"

Sirius spends breakfast bouncing slightly in their seat. They generally eat at the counter, too impatient to sit unless James or Lily make them, but they're trying to be a good host. Remus spends breakfast sleepily blinking down at her (immensely sugary, none of James' nonsense granola this morning) cereal and fighting back yawns. Padfoot spends breakfast shamelessly begging for pets and drooling all over Remus' knees.

"Padfoot," Sirius says aggrievedly, poking the dog with one foot. Padfoot thumps her tail against the floor and doesn't move. "I'm sorry. I would blame the neediness on it being her birthday but she's always like this, to be honest."

"It's your birthday?" Remus smiles down at Padfoot and Sirius scowls jealously into their cereal. It's annoying, being upstaged so thoroughly by their own dog.

"Yes. She's annoyed because James has gone out of town and abandoned us."

Remus looks up at Sirius, biting back a smile again.

"She's annoyed?"

"Yes," Sirius sniffs. "Personally, I don't care at all."

"Well," Remus looks meditatively at her spoon, "I'm sorry for crashing your birthday, Padfoot."

Padfoot, happy to be acknowledged again, wags her tail and drools some more.

"I suppose we can share the cake with you," Sirius says, faux-condescendingly. Remus laughs.

Sirius, in typical Sirius fashion, has baked both a large chocolate cake (strictly for human consumption, obviously) and a (still fairly large, Padfoot is a growing girl after all) much less sweet and chocolate-y dog cake. They’ve both got peanut butter frosting, for symmetry.

Sirius slides the cakes out of the refrigerator and onto the counter, cutting two thick slices out of the chocolate. Padfoot, ever the optimist, sits next to Sirius and stares fixedly up at them, licking her lips in the hope of crumbs. Sirius looks over at Remus, cocking their head.

“Does birthday girl or guest get trump card? Who gets first cake?”

“I think Padfoot,” Remus says. Padfoot gives a yip of approval. Sirius rolls their eyes but plops down the doggy cake for Padfoot, then steps around her to bring the human cake to the table.

“She can’t have any chocolate,” Sirius stage whispers to Remus. Remus reaches out for a plate, but Sirius snatches it back. “Hang on, can you?” They eye Remus nervously. “If you eat chocolate, you aren’t going to die or something, are you?”

“I’m not a dog,” Remus laughs, taking the plate. Sirius shrugs.

“Can’t be too careful,” they say sagely, dropping into another chair. “Now that I’ve found you, I need to keep you around.” Remus raises an eyebrow and Sirius flushes, looking down at their cake. “That sounded less serial murder-y in my head,” they mutter.

In answer, Remus takes a rather large bite of cake.

A comfortable silence settles over them. Sirius and Remus munch contentedly on their slices as Padfoot, having eaten her own at a truly alarming pace, comes to hover under the table and step on their feet.

“I’ve not found much good fictional representation of werewolves,” Remus muses. “Not anything accurate, anyway?”

“Not even Twilight?” Sirius asks innocently. Remus gives them a look. Sirius grins and shrugs. “Pity. I did rather like the idea of alternate universe Twilight motorcycle lesbian werewolf pack.”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to settle for just the one lesbian werewolf,” Remus says.

“Well,” Sirius says thoughtfully. “I have got a motorcycle.”

“We’re all sorted then,” Remus says drily. Sirius grins at her. Perhaps James and Lily being gone for a few days isn’t the worst thing to ever happen to them, after all.


End file.
